What is a 'shepherdId' and how do I configure it for my site?

The ‘ShepherdId’ is what we use to uniquely identify your site, once it has been configured. Each piece of information sent from your system to Shepherd, contains the ‘ShepherdId’, which allows us to differentiate your site data from others.

2.0: Configuring your ‘ShepherdId’

2.1: Breakdown of ‘ShepherdId’ components

The ‘ShepherdId’ can be broken down into a number of components, which always follows the pattern:

SHP_<source code>_<site code>

Take the following example:

SHP_LX_ChalkFarm

This ‘ShepherdId’ can be split into 5 sections:

‘SHP’ is the product code. For us, this is always ‘SHP’ for ‘Shepherd’. Your ‘ShepherdId’ must always begin with ‘SHP’.

‘_’ is the first delimiter to signify the end of the product code.

‘LX’ is an example of the source code. You will be told which source code to use for your integration.

‘_’ is the second delimiter, and is used to signify the end of the source code.

‘ChalkFarm’ is an example of the site code. This uniquely identifies your site from multiple sites with the same source.

You will most likely never need to rewrite the whole ‘ShepherdId’, you should only need to modify the site code section.

2.2: Setting your ‘ShepherdId’

With the above information understood, it is now time to set your ‘ShepherdId’. This should not change once configured, as we will lose our link between your site and our system.

Please use the product code ‘SHP’, a source code that has been specified to you by us, and the site code.

Setting the site code is simple. Please follow these rules when setting your site code:

Give context to your site code. We usually like to use the address of the property, i.e. ‘BuckinghamPalace’

Please only use alphanumeric characters and no spaces

It is recommended (but not enforced) to write your site code in ‘camel case’ - a style of typography where a phrase has no spaces, and each word is written with the first letter as a capital letter. For example, the phrase ‘camel case’ would be written as ‘CamelCase’.

2.3: Worked example of setting a ‘ShepherdId’

You have been asked to set the ‘ShepherdId’ of your integration. Shepherd has asked you to use the source code ‘ABC’.

You have installed the integration at the property, with the first line of the address as ‘2 Beverley Meadow’.